The Group of 20 major economies do not plan to make a pledge on fighting protectionism at their summit this weekend, despite the increasing need to promote free trade to prop up the global economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, sources close to the matter said Monday.
The G-20 leaders have refrained from vowing to combat protectionism in joint communiques at their summits in the last two years in the face of opposition from the United States, which has implemented protectionist trade measures under President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy.
This year’s meeting on Saturday and Sunday is also expected to stop short of referring to efforts necessary to tackle climate change, after the United States earlier in the month formally withdrew from the Paris climate accord as a result of Trump’s decision in 2017.
The leaders, however, will likely agree to cooperate in speeding up the development of a coronavirus vaccine for widespread use with the United States, Europe and some countries in other regions seeing a resurgence of infections, the sources said.
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